Refuse collection apparatus



Oct. 23, 1962 S. V. BOWLES REFUSE COLLECTION APPARATUS Filed Dec. 7.1959 JNVENTOIL h n "nil United States Patent O 3,059,789 REFUSECOLLECTION APPARATUS Samuel V. Bowles, 12039 Branford St., Sun Valley,Calif. Filed Dee. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 857,672 2 Claims. (Cl. 214-41) Thisinvention relates generally to apparatus for handling refuse and moreparticularly relates to a refuse col leetion system wherein refuse isinitially transported in a plurality of relatively small pick-upvehicles to one or more loading stations where it is compacted andreloaded into a larger vehicle to be hauled to the point of ultimatedisposal.

The necessity for a clean, ellicient, economical and sanitary refusedisposal method has led, particularly in the larger metropolitan areas,to an increasing number of problems. Generally, the greater thepropulation of a given metropolitan area, the greater the quantity ofrefuse which has to be disposed of and the longer the distances suchrefuse has to be hauled to a suitable final dumping or burning point.

The type of truck or other vehicle which is best suited for the initialrefuse pick-up operation from homes, stores or like user points is notnecessarily the same type of vehicle which is best suited for longdistance hauling of the refuse. The iriitial pick-up vehicle normallyoperates at relatively slow speeds in crowded city or residential areasand should be easily maneuverable and readily loaded by a normal crew insuch areas.

The long distance hauling vehicle, on the other hand, should be adaptedto carry the maximum possible volume of cargo at the highest feasiblespeed with a crew of the minimum possible number. Ideally, the haulingvehicle should be a large semi-trailer which can be operated by a singledriver whereas the initial pickup trucks should be smaller, moremaneuverable vehicles intended to be staifed by two or more men. Quiteapparently, there is a considerable inefficiency both from the point ofview of wear and tear and equipment and from the point of view ofutilization of man-hours, if the initial pick-up vehicles are alsorequired to haul the trash over long distance open road runs to a remotedumping point. These small maneuverable trucks are not efficient volumecargo carriers and all but one of their two or three man crews are idleduring the open road hauling.

Furthermore, many communities and many private trash collectioncompanies have existing open truck equipment which was intended for andis primarily suitable for the initial pick-up operation where the truckis normally moving at slow speeds and can be carefully packed by amultiple man crew. When such open topped vehicles are loaded with refuseand driven at high speeds along open or main highways, a very definitetraic safety hazard is created by the possibility of refuse blowing orfalling from the truck into the path of tl'ailic. At best` such a modeof refuse transportation is unsightly and unsanitaryr It is, therefore,an object of this invention to provide apparatus for refuse collectionwhich overcomes the above noted ditliculties in the prior art.

It is a further object of this invention to provide apparatus forcollecting refuse by using a relatively small vehicle to initiallytransport the refuse to a loading station where it is packed andcompacted into a larger closed vehicle for transportation to theultimate point of disposal.

It is another object of this invention to provide a closed refusehauling truck having an opening therein through which refuse may beloaded by an externally mounted packer blade which compacts the refuseagainst a pusher blade mounted'inside said truck to yieldingly resistthe action of the packer blade.

It is still another object of this invention to provide refuse handlingapparatus including a hopper mounted adjacent a dock from which refusemay be loaded into the hopper from a plurality of relatively smallpick-up trucks to be reloaded from the hopper into one or morerelatively large transport vehicles.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will bemore fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout andwherein:

FIGURE l is a longitudinal View, partly in section and partly inelevation, showing a semi-trailer truck body attached in position toreceive refuse from a hopper into which the refuse has been depositedfrom a truck on a dock adjacent the hopper.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale showingthe rear of the semi-trailer truck body with its rear door shown insolid line in the closed position and in phantom lines in the openposition.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, taken on the line3--3 in FIGURE l.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view, partly broken away, showing the loading dock,the hopper, and the rear end ofthe semi-trailer shown in FIGURE ltogether with the chain means for attaching the trailer to the hopper.

FIGURE 5 is a detailed perspective view of the ear means through whichthe chain is attached to the semitrailer.

T urning now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG- URE l thereof,there is shown a hopper 1t) and packing mechanism 11, both of which areintegrally attached to and built into a loading dock 12 upon which aconventional pick-up truck 13 may be driven for unloading into thehopper 10., It will be understood that the loading dock is normally are-inforced concrete structure having a ramp up which the pick-up truck13 may be driven to the position shown in FIGURE l, if desired.Alternatively, the truck 13 may unload its refuse upon the surface ofthe dock 12 rather than directly into the hopper 10 as shown so that therefuse may be sorted for any salvageable items before being loaded intothe hopper. In this latter mode of operation, the sorted refuse is thenpushed from the dock 12 into the hopper 10 by a bulldozer or the likeor, alternatively, the top surface of the doek 12 may be provided with aconveyor belt upon which the refuse is unloaded to the carried into thehopper 10. t

ln any event, refuse which has been initially 'collected from varioususer points, such as homes, stores, or the like, by any conventionalrelatively small vehicle such as the truck 13 is transported to theloading station comprised of the dock 12, hopper 10, and thehydraulically actuated packer 11. The refuse is then loaded eitherdirectly from the truck 13 or by any of the indirect means suggestedabove into the inlet opening 14 of the hopper l0. As may be best seen inFIGURE 3, the hopper 10 has a generally funnel shaped top portion 15flaring upwardly to the inlet opening 14 and communicating at the bottomthereof with a packing chamber 16 in one side of which is formed theoutlet opening 17 of the hopper 10. The outlet opening 17 is preferablyat right angles to the inlet opening 14 ofthe hopper` since it isdesired to receive the packer blade 18 of thc hydraulic packer 11 in theoutlet opening 17 and since this blade has a line of travel which isparallel to the longitudinal axis of the top surface of the loading dock12. Both inlet opening 14 and outlet opening 17 comprise elongatedpassages which are in communication with a packing chamber 16.

The packer blade 18 is shaped and dimensioned to be received within theoutlet opening 17 and. operates to force refuse from the packing chamber16 out through the outlct opening 17 when blade 18 moves from right toleft from the solid line to the phantom line position shown in FIGURE l.The hopper is supported by any convenient supporting frame work 19 suchas steel legs which position the hopper immediately adjacent to thedoel; 12.

The outlet opening i7 of the hopper 10 is generally rectangular and isdefined by a plurality of wall members 2t) which extend outwardly awayfrom the packing chamber 16 in hopper 10. As noted above, the walls 2t)define an outlet opening 17 which is of substantially the same size andshape as the packer blade 18 so that when the blade 18 is driven by apiston 21 in an hydraulic cylinder 22, it will be received in the limitof its travel in the opening 17.

The packer blade 18 is rigidly attached to the piston 21 which ismounted in hydraulic cylinder 22 for actuation thereby. This assembly isreceived within a chamber 23 in the loading dock 12 which opensoutwardly into the packing chamber 16 of hopper 10.

The hydraulic cylinder 22 is supplied with hydraulic uid from a pump 24through a solenoid operated valve 25 and the usual hydraulic fluidlines. The pump 24 is driven by an electric motor 26. Both the motor 26and the solenoid operated valve 25 are controlled by switches mounted ona control panel (not shown) positioned adjacent to the doek 12 in anyknown convenient manner.

The packer blade 18 is integrally attached to a solid plate housinghaving side walls 27- a top wall or follower plate 28 and n rear wall29. The solid plate housing has an exterior shape and dimension which issubstantially congruent to the interior shape and dimension of theoutlet opening I7 of hopper l0 so that it may be tclescopically receivedtherein when the hydraulic cylinder actuates the packer blade 18 to moveto the left. The solid plate housing moves integrally with the packerblade 18 and thereby closes or occupies the entire volume of thepacl-:ing chamber 16 when the material previously deposited therein isbeing forced out through the outlet opening 17 by the assembly of thepacker blade 18.

This integrally attached plate wall housing and inparticular the topwall 28 prevents refuse from falling from the top of the hopper down inback of the packer blade A 13 during its cycle of operation and therebypermits continuous operation of the apparatus. That is to say, by virtueof the housing which prevents refuse from falling in back ofthe packerblade. it is possible to be continuons- Iy loading refuse into thehopper 10 while the hydraulically actuated packer blade assembly18-272829 is also in continuous reciprocal motion without jamming themechanism by the accumulation of refuse in back of the packer bla-de aswould be the case if the housing were not provided. With the apparatusas shown` an operator may actuatc the motor 26 and solenoid valve 25either for continuous reciprocal motion or for a single cycle ofoperation in accordance with the need at any particular instant.

In practice, as may be best in FIGURE 3, it is preferrcd to use a pairof hydraulic cylinders 22 in housing 23 to drive the packer bladeassembly in order to equalize the load thereon.

Refuse from the outlet opening 17 of hopper 10 is discharged by thepacker blade assembly into the body of the long distance hauling vehiclewhich in the present illustration is a large generally enclosedsemi-trailer 30. The body of the trailer 30 is'provided with a pusherblade 31 movably mounted therein and connected by a cable 32 toahydraulically driven winch 33. The pusher blade 31 is shown in solidlines in FIGURE 1 in the position it occupies at the beginning of theloading operation. The hydraulically actuated winch 33 is provided withany conventional adjustable-load braking mechanism such that as refuseis packed through the outlet opening 17 of the hopper 10 into thetrailer 30 by the packer blade 18, it will be compacted against thepusher blade 31. The above mentioned braking mechanism is adjusted sothat as more and more refuse is forced into the trailer 30 against theyielding resistance of the pusher blade 3l, the pusher blade 3l is movedfrom right to left, as seen in FIGURE l, that is, from the back to thefront of the trailer 30 in order to accommodate the additional refusebeing loaded into the truck and being simultaneously compacted therein.

It has been found that the continuous compaction of the refuse againstthe yielding resistance of the pusher blade 31 affords a more eilicicntcompaction and permits a greater volume of refuse to be loaded into atruck body of a given volume than can otherwise be achieved. During theloading operation described above, the pusher blade 31 is moved from thcsolid line position shown in FIGURE l (wherein it is near the rear ofthe truck which is backed up to the hopper) to the phantom line positionwherein it is resting against the front of the trailer 30 when the sameis fully loaded. This motion from the solid line to the phantom lineposition is produced by the compaction of the refuse forced against thepusher blade by the hydraulically actuated packer blade. The pusherblade 31 yieldingly resists the loading of refuse into the truck so asto compact the refuse while the pusher blade 31 is gradually moved fromthe back to the front of the truck.

When the trailer 30 has been hauled to the point at which it is desiredto unload the refuse for final burning or other disposition thereof, thehydraulically actuated winch 33 reels in the cable 32 and thereby pullsthe blade 31 from the front to the back of the trailer to dischargeoiempty the load of refuse rearwardly out of the trailer.

Structurally, the semi-trailer 30 comprises a conventional bed 34 havingrear wheel assemblies 3S and a front supporting wheel assembly 36. Frontwall 37, top wall 38, and stlc walls 39 are fised in position so thatthe truck body is permanently closed at the top and bottom. on each sideand at the front. The pusher blade 31 is substantially co-extensive withthe interior cross section of the trailer 30 and is mounted on a wheeledbase or carriage mechanism 40 to which the cable 32 is attached toproduce the desired resistance to motion from the rear to the front ofthe body during loading and to produce the desired motion from the frontto the rear during unloading.

The single opening in the body as noted above constitutes the entire endor rear wall of the truck. This single rearward opening is entirelyclosed by a large rear door 41 which is hinged as at 42 and 43 so as toswing open laterally about one vertical edge of the rear opening as anaxis. This large rear door 41 is shown in solid lines in its closedposition in FIGURE 2 and is shown in phantom lines in its open position.The large rear door 41 is opened to the phantom line position of FIG-URI?. 2 only during the tinal unloading of the trailer 30 at the pointof ultimate disposition of the refuse.

The loading of the trailer 30, as may best be seen in FIGURES l and 2.is accomplished through an opening in the large door t1 in which ishingedly mounted a smaller door 44. The opening of smaller door 44 ispositioned, shaped and dimensioned to mate with and receive the outlet17 of the hopper 10 when the trailer 30 is positioncd and securedadjacent to the hopper. Thus, during the loading operation. the largemain door 41 at the rear of the trailer 30 is left closed and thesmaller door 44 is opened to afford an opening positioned to receive theoutlet spout or opening 17 of the hopper 10. A pair of spring biasedflaps or metal sheets such as the swinging doors 45 and 46 is mountedwithin the body of the trailer 30 in order to retain the refuse alreadypacked into the body in position during the loading operation. Theswinging doors 45 and 46 are conveniently mounted on frame members suchas the member 47 surrounding the interior of the opening of the smallerdoor 44.

The swinging doors 45 and 46 are spring biased to a normal position inwhich they are vertically disposed in a plane parallel to the plane ofthe smaller door 44 or, equivalently. of thc large door 4l. When thesmall door 44 is opened and its opening is aligned with the outlet spout17 of' the hopper l0, the action of the hydraulic packer blade forcesrefuse into the truck body and thereby deflects the spring biasedswinging doors sufliciently to permit entry of the refuse into the truckand possibly out as far as the position shown in phantom line in FIG URE2 in which the doors are in the horizontal plane. When the packer blade18 and housing is retracted by the hydraulic cylinder, the swingingdoors 45 and 46 are urged toward their normal vertical position by theaction of their biasing springs. These doors thus tend to retain therefuse originally deposited in the truck therein and prevent it fromfeeding back into the hopper. ln practice, the swinging doors will tendto assume the diagonal or nearly diagonal position shown in FIGURE 1once the loading operation has been started, since a certain amount ofrefuse will be caught between the doors and prevent -them from fullyclosing. ln fact, this action accomplishes the intended purpose of thedoors, since the pieces of refuse caught between them act to completethe closing of the opening of the smaller door 44 and thereby preventthe unwanted escape of refuse being loaded into the trailer 30. In thismanner, by repeated action of the hydraulically1 actuated packer blademore and more refuse is forced into the trailer 30 against the yieldingresistance of the pusher blade 31.

In order to assure that the hydraulic packer in fact compacts the refuserather than simply moving the trailer 30 away from the hopper 10, it ispreferred to attach the trailer 3) to the base supporting structure ofthe hopper 10 by a chain t) as best seen in FIGURES l and 4. The chain50 is attached to the trailer 30 by being dropped through the key holeshaped slot 51 in each of a pair of ears 52 fastened to be the base 34on opposite sides of the trailer 30 adjacent the rear thereof. The chain50 is then passed over rollers 53 and 54 mounted in the upright verticalsteel supports 19 of the hopper 10.

By this arrangement, the trailer 30 is securely positioned adjacent tothe hopper with the outlet of the hopper opening into the body throughthe opening of the smaller door 44 for the normal loading operation. Asrefuse is supplied to the hopper, the hydraulic packer blade forces itout of the outlet opening 17 and into the trailer 30 where it iscompacted against the yielding resistance of the pusher blade 31 andwherein it is retained by the action of the spring biased swing doors 45and 46. After the trailer is fully loaded, the chain 50 is disengaged,the trailer 30 is drawn away from the hopper and the small door 44 isclosed to fully close the body for high speed transportation by a singletractor driver to the point of final disposition of the refuse.

At the final disposition point, the unloading operation is accomplishedsimply by opening the large rear door 41 carrying with it the smallerdoor 44 and the interior swinging door 45 and 46 so as to leave theentire rear end of the trailer 30 open. The hydraulically driven winch33 is then actuated to reel in the cable 33 and move the pusher blade 31from the front to the rear of the body to fully unload the refusecompacted therein. It is thus seen that the long distance hauling andnal unloading can readily be accomplished by a single driver in a clean,efficient, sanitary and safe manner which affords a considerableincrease in the efiieiency and effectiveness of refuse collection anddisposal.

While a particular exemplary preferred embodiment of this invention hasbeen described in detail above, it will be understood that modificationsand variations therein may be effected without departing from the truespirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention, asdefined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Refuse handling apparatus comprising: a hopper having inlet meansadapted to receive refuse and outlet means adapted to discharge refuse;dock means from which refuse may be loaded into said inlet means of saidhopper; a vehicle body having a loading opening in the back thereofadjacent the floor of the body and positioned to mate with said outletmeans of said hopper; hydraulically actuated packer blade meansreciprocable in said hopper for loading refuse from said hopper throughsaid opening in said body; following plate means attached to said packerblade means to prevent refuse from falling behind said blade duringreciprocation thereof; chain means to secure said body to said hopperwith said operiing in said body adjacent said outlet from said hopper;movably mounted pusher blade means in said body; a hydraulicallyactuated winch; a cable connected between said winch and said pusherblade means to control the position of said blade; said winch and cableyieldably positioning said blade in said body to afford a predeterminedresistance to the loading of refuse into said body; said packing bladein said hopper urging refuse against said movably mounted packer bladelin said body during the loading thereof to overcome said resistance andthereby continuously compact said refuse and move said body mountedpusher blade away from said opening as compacted refuse is loaded intosaid body; a discharge opening in said body; said truck mounted pusherblade being movable by said cable and winch through a path in which itunloads said body by forcing said compacted refuse out of said dischargeopening.

2. Refuse handling apparatus comprising: a hopper having inlet meansadapted to receive refuse and outlet means adapted to discharge refuse,doek means from which refuse may be loaded into said inlet means of saidhopper; a vehicle body having a loading opening in the back thereofpositioned to mate with said outlet means of said hopper, said vehiclebody having a larger internal cross sectional area than the crosssectional area of said loading opening; hydraulically actuated packerblade means reciprocable in said hopper for loading refuse from saidhopper through said opening in said body; following plate means attachedto said packer blade means to prevent refuse from falling behind saidblade during reciprocation thereof; chain means to secure said body tosaid hopper with said opening in said body adjacent said outlet fromsaid hopper; movable mounted pusher blade means in said body; `ahydraulically actuated winch; a cable connected between said winch andsaid pusher blade means to control the position of said blade; saidwinch and cable yieldably positioning said blade in said body to afforda predetermined resistance to the loading of refuse into said body; saidpacking blade in said hopper urging refuse against said movable mountedpacker blade in said body during the loading thereof to overcome saidresistance and thereby continuously compact said refuse and move saidbody mounted pusher blade away from said opening as compacted refuse isloaded into said body; a discharge opening in said body; said truckmounted pusher blade being movable by said cable and winch through apath in which it tunloads said body by forcing said compacted refuse outof said discharge opening.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,552,644 Perin Sept. 8, 1925 2,076,504 Ochsner Apr. 6, 1937 2,622,748Feidert Dec. 23. 1952 2,934,198 Schonrock Apr. 26, 1960

